Competition Rules (June 2016)

There are two classes, “Open” and “Novice” and within each class six sections, which are:
Prints – Mono Prints, General Colour Prints, and Nature Prints.
Projected – Mono, General Colour and Nature.

For Monthly Competitions the Prints Sections and Projected Sections are generally held on separate evenings.

The Novice class is intended for those relatively new to club photography who prefer initially to compete only against those with similar experience to themselves.

The Open class is where all other members compete.

Members will be free to choose which class they enter but that decision will normally hold for the whole season. No member may enter both classes contemporaneously.

The winners of any Sections in the Novice class will be expected to move to the Open class the following and subsequent seasons, at least in that particular section. This move may be deferred for one year maximum if the member so desires. There will be 4 Print and 4 Projected Competitions in each season, including 2 set subject competitions (one Print and one Projected). The Competition Secretary will be pleased to answer any questions on any matters relating to the Competitions.

General Rules (these apply to all competitions)
1. Entries will only be accepted from fully paid up members.
2. All entries must be photographs (made by the action of light of any wavelength on a sensitive surface) of which the entrant holds the copyright.
3. Monochrome is defined as a photograph varying from very dark grey (black) to very clear grey (white) with various shades of grey in between. A work toned with a single colour will remain monochrome. Any partial toning or the addition of another colour becomes a colour image.
4. Members may enter up to three photographs in each section. (However see Rule 11).
5. Any entry may be used by the Society for publicity purposes and will be made available on request for inter-club competitions.
6. No photograph may be entered more than once during the monthly competitions in any one year. The same applies to photographs that are “almost identical” to one that has already been entered. The author must decide whether to enter it as Colour or Monochrome but cannot do both.
7. Photographs of a similar likeness may only be entered in a competition if the title indicates that there is more than one photograph e.g. Flower 1, Flower 2 etc.
8. A record of placing made by judges will be kept by the Competition Secretary for appropriate awards to be made.
9. Points count down to “Held Back” for the Aggregate Awards given annually in each Section but only the best score in each month will count towards the annual Best Awards in each section.
10. All entries must be handed in on the correct night, clearly identified with the author´s name, class, section and title. Any entry not complying with these requirements will be returned.
11.There will be a cap of 120 entries in all monthly competitions. This will be administered by reducing entries per member per section to 2 where necessary, this applying first to the Open Classes before reducing Novices.
12. The Competition Secretary may use his/her discretion to waive or amend competition rules where appropriate and ensure that the Novice class is correctly used.
13. Whilst the Society will take every reasonable care, the liability for any damage to photographs shall be the entrants.

Prints

Mono and colour prints may be either home or trade processed/printed. They must be mounted and no larger than 20 inches by 16 inches including mount.

Digital Projection

1.All photographic files must be in JPG format with minimum compression and shall be a maximum of 1400 pixels wide and 1050 pixels high (these dimensions cannot be reversed). The images must be in a single layer in RGB mode and the sRGB colour space, including monochrome images. File names must be in the format [Projection order] [single space] [Title].jpg e.g. ‘2 My Photo.jpg’ or ‘3 A Duck.jpg’ no dashes, underscores etc. between the number and your title please. Use capital letters and spaces in the title where they would normally appear and do not type ‘.jpg’ after the title (as .jpg is inserted automatically by the software). Files should be submitted in relevant folders entitled ‘Mono’, ‘Colour’ or ‘Nature’.

2. Entries may be made on any suitable medium, including by email to the Competition Secretary. In the case of email, the Competition Secretary will always send a receipt stating the number of readable files received. Files will be deleted from the computer after a competition if the entrant so requires.

Natural History Rules

1. A Nature submission should show living, untamed animals and uncultivated plants in their natural habitat. Geology and Natural phenomena are also acceptable.
2. Photographs of domesticated animals or animals under any form of restraint are ineligible. Animals such as barn owls or storks, adapting to an environment modified by humans, are acceptable.
3. For competition purpose a domesticated animal will be defined as any animal that depends on a human for food, water and/or shelter. This will include farm animals and household pets. ‘Wild’ animals in safari parks and zoos can be admissible.
4. Any manipulation or modification to the original image should be limited to minor retouching of blemishes, cropping of the original or ‘gardening’ before the shutter is pressed and should not alter the content or context of the original scene. Techniques such as HDR, focus stacking, dodging and burning are permissible. Monochrome images will be permissible but Infra-Red images are not.
5. Naming should be restricted to the common name of the image, e.g. Iceberg, North Atlantic, Red Deer Stag(s), Red Deer Rut or Common Blue butterfly. Latin names may be included, if known, but are not essential.

ANNUAL COMPETITION RULES

The Annual Open Competition is held towards the end of each season. There will be same classes and sections as the Monthly Competitions.
1. Each entrant may submit up to three photographs in each of the six sections.
2. Each entrant must have submitted at least one entry into a section of one of the current season’s Monthly Competitions to be eligible to submit an entry into that section of the Annual Open.
3. Entries may have been submitted in previous Monthly Competitions or may be new work. Under no circumstances may an entry have received an award (Commended or above) in any previous Annual Open competition.
4. No entry may be the same or similar to another entry from the same entrant in another section of the Annual Open. Other than as stated above, the rules of Monthly Competitions will apply (e.g. definition of Nature, format of projected digital photographs, etc.).
5. Any work entered in the Annual Competitions must have been taken within the preceding 18 months.
6. The interpretation of these rules will be at the discretion of the Competition Secretary but, in the event of any dispute, the Committee will decide based on such evidence as they see fit to obtain.

PANELS COMPETITION

In the event that a Panels Competition is held during a season, the following rules will apply. There will be two sections in each of the two classes, “Open” and “Novice”:
♣ Print Panels
♣ Digitally Projected Panels
1. Entrants should note that there will be no separate Nature section(s) but Nature panels may be submitted in either of the two sections.
2. Entrants should also note that a collage of a number of different photographs amalgamated into, essentially, one different photograph will not constitute a panel, however, the appropriate number of such photographs will be considered to be a panel. 3. A Print Panel will comprise three prints with a single, collective title. Each print will indicate its orientation and position within the panel. No print’s dimensions shall exceed 20” x 16” mounted.
4. A Digitally Projected Panel will comprise three or more photographs arranged within a single file of no more than 1400 pixels wide by 1050 pixels high.
5. Each entrant may submit up to three panels in each section.
6. Under no circumstances may an entry have received an award (Commended or above) in any previous Panels competition.
7. No entry may be the same or similar to another entry from the same entrant in another section of the Panels competition.
8. Other than as stated above, the rules of Monthly Competitions will apply (e.g. format of projected digital photographs etc.).
9. The interpretation of these rules will be at the discretion of the Competition Secretary but, in the event of any dispute, the Committee will decide based on such evidence as they see fit to obtain.

All these rules will be reviewed at the end of each season and any amendments made will be announced before the next season.